NFL Power Rankings, Week 7: Los Angeles Rams enter top three

You probably figured out that the Chiefs would stay parked in the top spot -- even after a close loss -- with the consistency they've shown this season. The Eagles? More people should take notice.

Analysts and fans alike should take a deep dive into Carson Wentz's budding career. While he's been mentioned as a rising star, Wentz fell behind Jared Goff in the 2016 NFL Draft and behind Dak Prescott in the full-throttle evaluation analysts give these guys right off the bat. Yet, for all the fine statistical analysis, Wentz didn't enjoy the benefits of the league's leading rusher in 2016 or the top offensive line in football. Nor could he boast a true WR1 to go to in the clutch. Now, with an improved supporting cast around Wentz, we're seeing who the best quarterback from last year's draft really is. He's more accurate and uses his legs more effectively ... yes, even better than Prescott. Through six games, Wentz is the seventh-rated passer in the NFL, but at the top on pro football's biggest down (130.5 passer rating on third downs). And he's a huge reason Philly is 5-1.

On to a tweet that aged well ...

Odd that people think the Eagles are overrated. They're 4-1, with the only loss to the top team in the league.

Love this. That's a young man paying respect to the past. And let's be real: The Oilers' unis were the sweetest in sports.

While the top two teams are staying put, you'll see plenty of shakeup below. Please note that the further we go into the season, the less head-to-head matchups matter. Some of the best squads are sitting at 3-2. Your take is always welcome ... @HarrisonNFL is the place.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: For more in-depth analysis on the updated league pecking order, tune in to NFL Network every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET for the "NFL Power Rankings" show. Want to add YOUR voice? Call (888) 553-7436 and leave a message with your opinion, and your comments could be played on the air.

As I wrote in the intro, this team is not moving. (And if you are one of those who skipped the intro to go straight to the
Eagles blurb ... quit skipping the intro. P.S.: I love you.) Admittedly, I was not able to watch as much of Philly's
Thursday night win over Carolina as I would've liked. I got locked out of my house and had to drive over to my ex-girlfriend's place to get my spare key. So I listened to much of the second half on the radio. The broadcast focused on Philly's big plays, particularly the six-play, 75-yard drive that bridged the late-third and early-fourth quarter and really decided the game, 14 game minutes before this deal officially ended. Two things I like:
Leggie Blount getting 14 carries. Keep working him. Also,
Nelson Agholor contributing big plays, including the touchdown reception
to cap that second-half drive. There's another story in there somewhere.

RANK

3

4-2RAMS

8

The
Rams won a game that, while it might have flown under the radar over the weekend, was
one of the more interesting matchups of Week 6. The defenses were in control for much of the day, but Los Angeles received a big boost from its special teams -- especially
Pharoh Cooper's
brilliant return on the game's opening kickoff. Also noticeable is the strong season
Todd Gurley's putting together: 116 more rushing yards on Sunday, everybody.

RANK

4

4-2STEELERS

10

The
Steelers' M.O. is to beat the premier teams in the business, then falter against the crappy ones. Man oh man, is this team herky-jerky. Yet, given the topsy-turvy NFL, where the majority of the underdogs prevailed over the weekend, Pittsburgh is both consistently inconsistent and emblematic of the league. Central to
the prime effort given in Arrowhead was the game being taken off the shoulders of
Ben Roethlisberger and placed firmly in the belly of
Le'Veon Bell, who put up 191 yards on
35 touches.

RANK

5

4-2PANTHERS

Tough blurb to write here. Immediate reax: The
Panthers couldn't mount a final drive to take
a big game at home, right when you thought the team, or quarterback, had turned some imaginary corner. On the other hand, all I could really dwell on while writing this was
Luke Kuechly's health. That guy is a superstar. Head injuries are a scary issue. No one wants to see an impact player, who by all accounts is a fantastic dude, miss time or have his career threatened. Hopefully, the symptoms that landed him
in the concussion protocol Thursday night were relatively mild, and this is not major. Not overstating anything here, though, because player health is always a concern (I don't criticize player-safety rules), and, in my book, Kuechly is a Hall of Fame-level player with only the longevity component missing.

RANK

6

4-2PATRIOTS

2

For weeks, people have been pooh-poohing the
Patriots, telling me I should've had them at, like, 20. The only dissenting voice was Heath Evans on the "NFL Power Rankings" show. Of course, Heath played fullback for Bill Belichick, so there's that. (Shameless plug: Catch "NFL Power Rankings," Tuesdays at 6 p.m. ET on NFL Network.) While the New England defense still elicits, uh, let's say, a lack of confidence, which teams in the NFL are playing well on both sides of the football?

Moving the Vikes way up, with
Teddy Bridgewatercleared to practice and
Jerick McKinnon performing admirably in place of
Dalvin Cook. Despite their fine record, going to be a hair conservative and not move them up any higher, not one week after
they narrowly escaped Chicago (barely beating a rookie QB making his NFL debut). Minnesota also got out of facing
Aaron Rodgers for three quarters
on Sunday. That said, I wish I hadn't been conservative when it came to whether or not to have
Harrison Smith on my
preseason All-Pro team. He was on there until the final cutdown. Now I think Mike Zimmer's big-time safety is a candidate for DPOY. Already at the zenith of Pro Football Focus' rankings, all Smith did was compile five tackles, 1.5 sacks and an interception. We don't hear about him enough.

RANK

10

3-2SAINTS

5

New Orleans is the one team in the NFL that literally no one who covers the sport seems to be paying attention to, but the
Saints have won three in a row with a defense that at least makes plays now. Sure, the unit allowed 24 points
against Detroit on Sunday. It also produced 21. Moreover, the
Lions' scoring binge started when they were pushed to a frenetic pace by a massive deficit. (I also wanted to use moreover in a sentence.) The point is, this is not the same group that beat the
Giants in that
52-49 track meet two years ago, even if the score seemed similar. Next up:
at Green Bay.

RANK

11

3-2BILLS

1

Members of the #BillsMafia were off this past weekend, given a reprieve from complaining about the offense.
Tyrod Taylor is probably the most confusing quarterback this side of
Cam Newton. Whereas Newton is an up-and-down player, everyone keeps wondering if Taylor is an undervalued player mired in a bad offense or a quarterback who is merely
jussst good enough to get you beat. Not everything can be blamed on supporting cast. Sometimes a passer has to take chances downfield and let the chips fall where they may. Witness
Alex Smith this season. Wonder what would've happened
if Buffalo had drafted Patrick Mahomes ...

RANK

12

3-2FALCONS

8

Maybe the
Falcons aren't that solid.
Julio Jones was out there
against Miami on Sunday, and
Matt Ryan is the reigning MVP, but for the second straight contest, they allowed a team with little to zero offense come in and beat them at their place. The
Dolphins only threw for 151 yards, but
Jay Ajayi's 130 yards on the ground, coupled with
Reshad Jones' interception, was enough to ground Atlanta. Put simply: The offense couldn't run a lick in the second half. At least the defense made up for it by letting Ajayi run wild.

If ever there was a case of overlooking an opponent, it was the
Broncoson Sunday night. Yet, you can't ignore that Vance Joseph's group is 3-2 after playing four of their first five games at home. While no one should overreact to the loss to the
Giants, it did reveal a few offensive issues.
Trevor Siemian threw for over 300 yards. Which tells you how overrated the 300-yard game is in today's NFL.

RANK

14

3-3TEXANS

2

If you didn't see
Deshaun Watson's pregame getup, scroll up, man. If you didn't see his performance,
check out this video. Watson leads the NFL in touchdown passes (15). He's the first rookie to ever throw at least three touchdown passes in three straight games. He loves kittens. He's 3-2 as a starter, with the losses coming
against the defending champs on the road and
the top outfit in these Power Rankings. His passer rating is over 100. Perhaps most importantly, with
the Jags losing in Los Angeles, the
Texans are back in the thick of the AFC South race. Only one thing I typed in this paragraph was fabricated. You guessed it: I am not
totally sure the
Chiefs are the NFL's top team.

It was an off week for the
Cowboys, but apparently no one told the news cycle. The national anthem controversy simply won't go away -- and
neither will Ezekiel Elliott's suspension. What's next on the Zeke front? I don't have a law degree. Your guess is as good as mine. If a suspension is in fact inevitable, and considering the
Cowboys' subpar 2-3 start to this season, would Dallas perhaps be better off with Elliott sitting now as opposed to losing time in 2018? What a wonky season for this organization.

RANK

19

3-3TITANS

1

Slight move upward for the
Titans, who
triumphed Monday night in a game where they certainly didn't put their best foot forward. That said, I want to call attention to three
Titans for their efforts on the evening.
Marcus Mariota gutted that sucker out. It was so obvious he couldn't move. It was so obvious Mike Mularkey wanted to play
Matt Cassel about as bad as he wants to watch "Cruel Intentions" instead of film of his run game. The second guy?
Taylor Lewan, who made it clear what he thought of his offense's showing (or the offensive
play calling) in the red zone late. Third,
Wesley Woodyard. That was a big-time play reading
Jacoby Brissett's keeper on fourth down, then
taking the right angle to stop it. Back to the offensive play calling in that fourth-quarter, goal-to-go situation. It was offensive.

Kudos to the
Bears, for
the important win on the roadand for having the guts to bench the big contract and play the kid. Those two thoughts tie together, as getting a road win against a quality defense early in a quarterback's career is, simply put, career-building. Yes,
even if he wasn't an overpowering force in the win.Mitchell Trubisky only attempted 16 passes, completing half of them. It was a "game manager" quarterback job if there ever was one. The young man didn't throw any catastrophic picks, while Chicago's run game and secondary won the day.
Jordan Howard put up 167 yards on 36 carries.
Adrian Amos took back an interception 90 yards to halt a
Ravens scoring opportunity while creating a score of his own (and putting the
Bears up 24-13). Next up:
Panthers, at Soldier Field.

RANK

22

2-3BENGALS

1

The
Bengals were off this past weekend, but the break didn't necessarily come at a good time. While bye weeks are awesome for regenerating roster health, Cincy had been playing solid football for the previous three weeks. A hard-fought
OT loss at Lambeau followed by back-to-back wins provided momentum for a team many wrote off at 0-2. And the down time provided some rough news on the health front, as
Tyler Eifert was scheduled for season-ending surgery.

The congregation of Darth Raider fans in Oakland have been treated to a dearth of offense for several weeks now. The
Raiders -- led by
Derek Carr ...
EJ Manuel ... then
Derek Carr again -- have manufactured a grand total of 53 points over the last four games (all losses). This isn't a matter of drives stalling, either. Nope, the
Raiders are averaging 225.3 yards per game during that time. That's awful. To think: Coming into this season, everyone felt the secondary was the dark side ...

This football team has played poorly, for the most part, over the past four weeks. The one positive blip on the radar was
handling the EJ Manuel-led Raiders. Other than that, the
Ravens have been b.a.d. In fact, Sunday was
awful. The defense faltered against an offense featuring a rookie quarterback with a single start under his belt on a short week.
Joe Flacco is enduring his worst season as a pro. How 'bout that 4:8 TD-to-INT ratio? Straight out of the 1935 sports almanac.

RANK

29

1-5GIANTS

1

Never underestimate athletic pride, man. Was there a more lopsided matchup than the Sunday nighter? The
Giants trotted guys out there like
Roger Lewis Jr. and
Tavarres King against the top-flight secondary in football, a.k.a. "The No Fly Zone." Fine, so Big Blue just simply ran right at that defense with another guy you might not know:
Orleans Darkwa, who hammered his way for 117 yards. Darkwa's clock-eating also provided the
Giants' defense enough oxygen to nearly shut out Denver. I once met a psychic whose husband was the bass player in Orleans.
They sang this tune. You're welcome.

RANK

30

2-4COLTS

1

Feel like the
Colts are better than 30th. But what am I to do when Indy's two wins are against the only teams ranked lower in this league hierarchy?
Jacoby Brissett had all the fantasy czars tweeting about his pointage in the first half. Second half:
Titans DC Dick LeBeau implemented the proper adjustments, and
Jack Doyle fought the football.

Really thought that by Week 7, the
Browns would be out of the No. 32 spot. Which, in their case, has become a 32-hole. Or maybe Cleveland has season tickets to being the worst team in the league. It's frustrating for the organization and the fans, as well as those of us who cover the team from afar. Losing in Houston to the
Texans -- and the hottest quarterback in the league -- is not the part that is bothersome. Rather, the
Browns losing a game they were never really in by three scores --
that is tiresome. I mean, being down 33-3 midway through the third quarter hints little at analytics and potential, while screaming
same ol', same ol'. Ugh.